20 x 24 Images

This year, I finally realized a long-term goal by reserving studio time to use a special extra-large 20x24 Polaroid camera with my images. This is the same camera used by artists such as Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, Arnold Neman, Marie Cosindas, William Wegman, Olivia Parker, and many more

The camera, of which Polaroid made only 5 that are now scattered throughout the world, stands 5 feet tall and weighs 235 lb (the picture below gives a better idea of its size; compare that with a digital point-and-shoot!). Big, bulky, and beautiful! At least that's what people say about it, especially after seeing the gorgeous, superbly detailed, color and black-and-white 20x24-inch prints it produces.

The camera I used was housed in a San Francisco studio. The caretaker of the camera is Tracy Storer, who has worked with it for 20 years. The process for using it for my needs was a bit daunting and incredibly manual. For example, to work with my slides we actually had to increase the bellows by another 3 feet to enable us to print from my slides.

This is the ONLY way that a large-scale Polaroid emulsion transfer can be done. It is a very tricky and expensive process, and I think I am one of the few crazy people in the world doing this! I am certainly the only one transferring these to 22-carat gold leaf.